Battery jumper



April 19, 1 932. H SEBELL 1,854,489

BATTERY JUMPER Filed Nov 20, 1929 lnvenTor. Harry Se be by MkM PatentedApr. 19, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE nanny steam, or BOSTON,massacnusn'rrs, ASSIGNOR T MAX CORINBLATT, or Bos'roN; MASSACHUSETTSBATTERY JUMPER Application filed November 20, 1929. Serial No. 408,463.

This invention relates to devices known as battery jumpers. This term isused in the trade to indicate a connection for connecting the terminalsof storage batteries while they are being charged. These socalledjumpers comprise a length of wire having at each end a terminal adaptedto be connected to the battery terminal.

The wire terminal is usually in the form of a shar spike or point whichcan be driven into the attery terminal and the connectlng of the jumperto the battery involves driving the jumper terminals into the batteryterminals.

There is a tendency for the jumper terminals to become corroded when inuse and if the terminal is of the spike variety the corrosion will soonbring it into a condition when it is not suitable for use because of thedifiiculty of getting a good clean contact with the battery terminal.Whenever any jumper terminal thus becomes corroded the entire jumper orconnector is usually discarded and replaced by a new one.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide an improved terminalfor a battery jumper which has a removable contact member so that if thecontact portion of the jumper becomes corroded it can be readilydisconnected from the connector and replaced by a fresh contact member.The jumper or connector can thus be put back into its original state ata minimum expense thus avoiding the necessity of throwing away theentire connector just because one terminal has become somewhat corroded.

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated inthe drawings some selected embodiments thereof which will now bedescribed after which the novel features will be pointed out in theappended claims.

Fig. 1 is a perspective diagrammatic view illustrating some storagebatteries connected as they would be while being charged and alsoillustrating how my inventlon is used;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through one of the terminal membersof the connector or jumper showing it applied to a battery post, theremovable contact member being shown on substantially the section 2-2,

Fig 6;

ig. 3 is a sectional view of the terminal member removed from the postand illustrating the removable contact member on the section 33, Fig. 6;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing a differentembodiment of theinvention;

Fig. 5 is a view of the cap member illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the removable contact member shown inFigs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the cap member shown in Fig. 4.

As stated above the device relates to a con-- nector or so-calle'djumper designed to con-- nect the terminals of two storage batteries 1as shown in Fig. 1 while said batteries are being charged.

This jumper comprises a length of connecting wire 3 which has a suitableterminal at each end adapted to be connected to the posts 4 of thebatteries 1. In my improvement each terminal member comprises a cap orbody portion which is permanently connected to the wire 3 and a contactmember removably sustained by the cap member and adapted to engage andmake the necessary electrical contact with the battery post 4. In thedevice shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the cap member of each jumper terminal isindicated at 5 and it is preferably stamped into shape from sheetmaterial. The wire 3 is permanently connected to the cap member 5 insome approved way.

The removable or replaceable contact member of the terminal is indicatedat 6. This may also conveniently be made from sheet metal which isstamped into the desired shape and it has a general cap formationadapted to fit over the battery post 4. This member 6 is provided with aplurality of arms 7 arranged to engage the side walls of the post 4,each arm having struck up therefrom a spur 8 which is so constructedthat when-the terminal member is placed over the battery post 4the-spurs8 will have a cutting or scraping action on the posts providing a cleancontact and a correspondingly good electrical connection.

As stated above the member 6 is removably held in the retaining ca sothat it may be readily removed there rom. Hence if the portions of thecontact member 6 which have contact with the posts 4 of the 'battery be!come corroded or otherwise unfit for use the contact member 6 can bereadily removed from the cap 5 and replaced by a fresh contact member.

One simple way of making the ca 5 and the contact member 6 so that onecan e readily separated from the other is to make the cap- 5 with theedge 9 bent inwardly slightly and to make the contact member 6 with theresilient retaining arms which are of such shape and length that whenthe contact member 6 is inserted into the cap the ends of the retainingarms 10.will spring outwardly behind "the inturned rim or edge 9 of thecap member 5 thus yieldingly holding the con tact member in place.

The contacting arms 7 of the contact member 6 are slightly curved withoutwardly-directed or flared lower ends so that the contact member canbe readily placed on a battery .post 4. There is sufiicient resiliencyin the arms 'Z so that the pressure which the arms supply to the sidesof the post cause the spurs 8 to have a scraping action on the poststhereby providing a clean and efiicient electrical contact.

The contact member 6 can be readily removed from the cap member 5bysimply either applying suiiicient pulling strain to the legs? or bybending, by means of a suitable tool, one of the retaining arms 10inwardly sufiiciently to disengage it from the rim 9 and thenwithdrawing the member 6.

In Figs. 4 and 7 Ihave shown a slightly differentembodiment'of theinvention wherein the cap or body member 13 of the terminal and to whichthe wire 3 is secured is provided with the retaining groove 14 and hasits side walls slit as shown at 15 to permit said walls to be expandedradially.

The contact member 16 is provided with the contactin arms 17 each ofwhich has a spur 18 struc up therefrom and said contact member is alsoprovided with a retaining rib 19 adapted to be engaged in the retaminggroove 14.

The cap member or holder and the contact member are assembled by forcinthe contact member into the cap member, t e resiliency of the side wallof the cap member or holder due to the slits 15 permitting it to expandsufiiciently to allow the rib 19 of the contact member to be carriedinto engagement with the groove 14. The resiliency of the side walls ofthejcap member also permit the contact member to be readily removed whenit becomes necessary to discard it and to replace it by a fresh contactmember. 7

In both embodiments of the invention the connector or jumper is providedwith terminals each of whichcomprises a holder member or cap member thatforms a permanent part of the device and a contact member removablycarried by the body or cap member and having means to engage and form anelectrical contact with the battery .post 4.

A battery jumper or connector embodying, my invention can be used for along time by simply replacing the contact members as oocasion requiresand this may be done at a mmlmum expense.

I claim:

1. A connector for storage batteries comprising a connector wire havinga terminal at each end, each terminal comprising a holder memberpermanently connected to the wire and a contact member removably carriedby the holder member, the contact member having resilient contactingarms adapted to engage the side walls of the battery post, each armhaving an upwardly and inwardly inclined spur struck up therefrom shapedto scrape the post when the contact member is applied thereto.

2. A connector for storage batteries c0mprising a connector Wire havinga terminal at each end, each terminal comprising a cupshaped bodyportion. permanently connected to the wire and a contact member situatedwithin the body member and adapted to fit over the battery post, saidcontact member having resilient contacting arms which project beyond theopen end of the body member and have integral therewith upwardly andinwardly directed spurs.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

HARRY SEBELL.

